I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to slotted logs for shipping frangible sheet material and more particularly, for a slotted log for use in shipping containers for automotive lites.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofor, many different types of shipping containers have been used to transport and store sheet materials, such as automotive lites, on edge. U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,043 to Lastik discloses folding a resilient compressible pad over an edge portion of a sheet of glass and wedging the folded pad and the sheet into slots of a pair of elongated logs of a shipping container. The pad is, thus, compressed within the slot to apply a biasing force to hold the sheet securely in position against longitudinal movement within the shipping container during transportation. Lastik, alternatively, discloses lining each slot of the log with a resilient pad prior to insertion of the sheet into the slot. However, folding the pads over the sheet or lining the slots with the resilient pad is time consumming and labor intensive, thereby rendering this method quite costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,466 to Pater discloses shipping logs having a sheet edge supporting surface extending between a pair of upright members having wedge or scalloped portions to form a plurality of V-shaped recesses transverse to the longitudinal axis of the log. A strip of resilient material having an adhesive surface facing upwardly is secured to the supporting surface. A sheet is aligned in the recesses with a bottom edge surface contacting the adhesive surface of the strip to prevent movement of the sheet material. A spacer assembly is mounted along a top edge of the sheets to space apart the sheets. A strap extends from a bottom portion of the container over the spacer assembly to secure the sheets in a vertical position and to the bias sheets downwardly to maintain the bottom edge portions of the sheet in continuous contact with adhesive surface of the strip to prevent longitudinal motion of the sheets. However, formulation of logs having wedge or scalloped portions is expensive and requires the installation of customized machinery. Additionally, the straps must be connected and properly tensioned to provide the necessary biasing against the log.